Happy New Years!! It's time to shake off the last year..remember the good times..to grow from the bad and make this new coming year the best year yet!
There's a list of things I would like to work on for the coming year and I still haven't decided everything I'm going to focus on. But I know that it will be the best year ever! The best is always yet to come. Life always gets better and better..we are always growing and changing and evolving into something better..if we choose to.
Choose to make this year the best year of your life-it really is all up to you, no matter your circumstances. This video is about a boy that decided to change. He knew that he had to get rid of some old habits because they flat out weren't making him happy.
He was in a pretty bad place in his life-but now look at him! He is happy...he has true joy in his life! If you feel alone, if you feel like this life is too hard..turn to God. You can't make it without Him. There's a music artist who says in a song:
"You're not alone There is more to this, I know You can make it out You will live to tell"
I know he's right. We are not alone. We are never alone. I know that because I felt God's love for me when there was literally no one else there for me. I know it's true. If you doubt that-pray and ask God if He is there and if He loves you. You are worthy to talk to Him.
"God doesn’t care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go." -Elder Holland's talk The Best is Yet to Be
You can talk to God anytime, no matter what you've done-who you are. I know He loves you.
Be the person you've always wanted to be or, maybe you were before but you got off track a little.
"No matter have far you have gone done the wrong road-TURN BACK." -Turkish Proverb
You can be that person you want to be or better, who God wants you to be. There lies true happiness.
So start off the new year right. It may be a hard transition or even scary but I know it will be worth it. : )
I love Christmas time. Love it. I mean i LOVE listening to non-stop christmas music, watching christmas movies, making goodies, singing carols, reading the christmas story..the list goes on and on. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year!! But sometimes it doesn't feel like that. We all know we get focused too much on the non-important things such as what am I gonna buy so and so or do I have everything I need for the Christmas party..bla bla bla.
What is this really about??
CHRIST. Yes I'm sure you all know that.
But how do you capture that Christmas spirit even though you may be awesome and remember that it is in fact, about Christ. The key is that you know why you are celebrating Christmas and not just what happened on Christmas.
See growing up I tried my darndest to remember it was really about Christ and I'd go ok, I'm super excited Santa is coming but I need to remember that we are celebrating Jesus' birth. But then once the Santa thing kinda died down..(kinda but not fully!) I realized I wasn't as excited for Christmas every year. I saw what it did to my family and the stress it put my parents under.
How my mom was so worried if everyone was going to get enough presents and if we'd like them or not. My Dad would get upset because us kids would always be fighting over our toys or something and I'd think how do I find the spirit of Christmas now?
I think this video depicts exactly what my family was going through. And I love how this little girl in the video is completely focused on Christ. But for me that was just the beginning. I didn't really sit and ponder about Christ instead I went ya Christ was born happy birthday right? That is not enough. If we just focus on that he was born we miss the big picture.
So let's focus on the why.
Why was Christ born to begin with? Who is Christ? What did he do for us? Now if you are not familiar with the birth of Christ-start there. It is important to know the story, and if we do not know it-how can we celebrate
For me, I feel like this year I am starting to grasp a different side of Christmas I may have been avoiding and that is what Christ has done for me.
The Why has helped me personally capture the meaning of CHRISTmas. He came down to be our Savior. We aren't just celebrating any ol' birthday but our Savior's birthday. And we aren't just celebrating the fact he was born-we are celebrating who He is.
Because of what He did for us, we can live with God again. We don't have to live a life full of sin, He can take that from us and we can be cleansed through His sacrifice. The Atonement is why He came. It says in the Book of Mormon that,
"the Son of God suffereth according to the bflesh that he might ctake upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance," (Alma 7:13)
Once I realized the why I was celebrating everything became more exciting and wonderful and joyful to me! Everytime I say Merry CHRISTmas I can feel the Spirit warm my soul.
I know that Christ came down for me and for you so that we could one day live with God again. I celebrate Christmas because I am grateful for what he has done for me. I know that my life would not be the same without him. I know that I sin, and I need his Atonement and grace to help me come back to live with God again. I know that He lives. I know He loves me. I know I am never alone because of what He has done for me. He has felt my sorrow and every tear I will ever shed. He is my Savior and I love Him.
This is why Christ was born. This is why the angels rejoice. This is why we give gifts to one another. This is why Christmas time can be so jolly! This is why I say Merry CHRISTmas to everyone i meet! I am happy and joyful and grateful for what he did! Only the celebration of Christ's birth could warm all our hearts at this chilly time of year.
So take that Spirit of Christ and spread it to others and rejoice for Chirst is king!
Many people have asked me: Why are you a Mormon? Well that's a complicated question with many different answers that I could think of..I have MANY reasons why I am a Mormon!
Why I think I stay being of the faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is because it makes me happy.
Truly Happy.
Not that happy that you get when you get a brand new phone, or when you just ate the yummiest dinner or when your sports team just won the big game..nope not that kind. That kind of happiness just leaves. It doesn't last very long..I'm talkin about joy. The joy that I feel day in and day out. The joy that's everlasting and real.
"Men are that they might have joy," is found in 2 Nephi 2:25 in the Book of Mormon and I firmly believe that. We are here on earth to be happy! Being a Latter-Day Saint (Mormon) makes me happy : ) Really! If it didn't-I wouldn't be a Mormon!
The other easy answer is that I prayed. I asked God if The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was His true and only church on the earth today..and He answered me. I felt His love, the Holy Ghost filled my soul, and I knew it was true. It's a feeling you can't describe..a feeling that is so amazing you know it could only come from God. I know it. But that's a story for another day.
I live everyday what I am taught in this church and it makes me happy..when I didn't it made me sad. Simple. I do what makes me happy!
This video is about people who know exactly what I'm talking about. Why not do what makes us
